Before I go into who won, I must apologize to the regular organizers of Review Of The Week. What you're about to read is in no way my attempt at trying to start a trend, or something that should be expected each and every week. I will definitely try and do it again when my weeks come up, but I can't promise it will be a regular thing.

It was my small attempt at showing appreciation for you, the contributors and mainly the regular users, who make this place what it is. Your efforts should be celebrated. You know, instead of leaving you here while I wander off to another site where you're not even allowed to post.

That being said, on to the results:

Third Place

Lewis – The Longest Journey - The line between saying too much and not enough is incredibly thin. It’s important to give the reader an idea of what makes a game playable (or not, depending on the circumstance) but not revealing so much that they walk away feeling like they’ve played it. And though you did step off the line once or twice, I am incredibly intrigued by your review and wondering for myself what this game is all about. Though I would have liked one or two specific examples of the story telling or even a description of one of the harder puzzles, my request is only half-hearted as you gave a wonderful description of April at the beginning, and her awkwardness as a young adult—something I think we’ve all suffered with. It was a wonderful addition, and made it far easier to relate to the rest of the game.

Second Place

Woodhouse – Heartwork - Please don’t take this the wrong way, but reading your review kind of made me sick to my stomach—in the best way possible. I believe—and hope—that you picked some of the most depraved, nefarious moments in Heartwork to demonstrate how truly vile this game is, and they worked. I felt ill just hearing about them and could only imagine what it would be like to play it. Now I don’t have to, and—stating the obvious here—that’s the point of a review. Though it’s rather short I walked away with a strong idea of Heartwork. There were a few coma issues (two, really) that I saw but those are subjective and really don’t taint an incredibly strong piece.

First Place

Pickhut – Kane And Lynch 2: Dog Days - So two Kane and Lynch reviews this week, and to be honest with you I was never quite familiar with this franchise so I went into both pieces hoping for a decent description. I found that, so I thank you. Though your opening section cracked me up (I literally could see someone walking away amidst you describing Dog Days as an expansion pack) I worried that you would only emphasize what was new. Not so, and you made several references to the original game. For someone who’s not played it, but curious, that is a welcome addition. I walked away wanting to play this game, if only for the multi-player.

In the end, it was a really close call between Woodhouse and Pickut. Both had phenomenal descriptions and excellent flow. While I commend Woodhouse for doing such with so short a review, Pickhut's was perhaps one of the most in-depth reviews I've seen in a long time, so he gets the very hard fought win.

For those of you who didn't place:

Fastkilr – Deathspank - Purple thong underwear? I don’t know if I want to play it now out of sheer, morbid curiosity or run away screaming. Regardless, that was an excellent line. At that point, I was into the review because I’ve heard that DeathSpank is a really funny game and I was hoping for examples of that, which I never really saw. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good review but I was hoping that at some point you would break away from the description and quote the dialogue so I could see why it made the game. The rest of it flowed nicely, and I can empathize with you in regards to being burned out. A lot of adventure games have that same style, and for anyone who has been there it was a good way of describing the repetitiveness without coming right out and saying it.

Tom – Kane And Lynch 2: Dog Days - I OD’ed on helicopter bosses after Metal Gear Solid, so I feel your pain. This was the second review I read for the game, and worried that I may have skimmed due to duplication, but you actually went over what he didn’t cover. While he made me want to play the game, you made me opt for something else. The one issue I had was with the graphics paragraph. I apologize if this is off, but I had a hard time trying to decide if you loved or hated them. Aside from that, stellar job.

Louisutton – In Your House - This game just sounds silly, and obviously trying to capitalize on the popularity of Mortal Kombat, as mentioned. Your descriptions of the “blood” and Warrior throwing lightning bolts or Taker hurling ghosts was a good addition, and helped emphasize that point made earlier. It flowed nicely up until the last couple of paragraphs. I think they would have come across better had you worked them into the bulk of the review—maybe when you describe that In Your House takes place in the wrestler’s home, go over how that looks. When you’re describing the actual matches, maybe introduce the commentary there. Just a suggestion though to help tighten up an already great review.

BLAH or blah – Star Ruler - I’m somewhat torn on this review. While the opening two paragraphs seemed to do a little too much reiteration on one concept, the game description had me enthralled. Being able to build my own Deathstar may have very well sold me on the game, but as it was with Louis’ review, a part of me just sees the description for the sound as out of place and it kind of ripped me out of the vibe you built with the game description. That middle, though, damn fine work.

Edit - Because I forgot the music, as is typical of me and just so you know the new Disturbed album Rules Ass!

Probably no one else will say this, but even if they do, I want to be the first...

... I think you've outdone yourself here. Not only by giving such detailed praise but also for taking the time to comment on everyone's reviews. No, not a trend any sane person wants to start, but it deserves an appreciative mention. I only wish I had written a review for this week...

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Anyway, thanks again for doing this, true. I really do appreciate it. The extra effort is a touch that hasn't been used in RotW in a long while. Even before, when the topic creator would make "honorable mentions", they rarely included all reviews for a given week, and, in some cases, acted more as shout-outs than actual feedback. So great work.

What espiga does in his free time[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

This is definitely a surprise, especially since it was a big week for reviews. Then again, I'm always surprised to win a RotW. Thanks to True for his comments on the review and the win, of course, and congrats to everyone that submitted that week! You all provided reviews that were entertaining to read.